Sunday, 18 December 2016

ISIS Suspect, Planning To Visit Syria, Arrested In Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh: A suspected member of ISIS was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and local police from a Himachal Pradesh village. He was accused of planning to go to Syria.
23-year-old Abid Khan, a resident of Bengaluru, was arrested from a church in Banjar area in Kullu district, about 250 km from Shimla. He was living in Kullu for the past five months and was working as a helper there with a fake identity.

A mobile phone and a laptop has been seized from his possession and has been sent to forensic lab for further investigation.
Abid was in touch with the ISIS operatives and was planning to travel to Indonesia and then to Syria from there, Superintendent of Police Padam Chand said.

Another police official said that the accused had recently visited Sri Lanka.
The National Investigation Agency had conducted raids last month in Delhi and arrested some ISIS suspects. During interrogation, the suspects named Abid and said he was in touch with them.
A case has been filed against him and he is likely to be produced in a court in Kullu town today.

ISIS suspect held from Kullu church sent in 5-day remand

MANALI: The ISIS suspect, who was arrested in a joint operation of Kullu police and National Investigation Agency
(NIA) from a small church at Sidhwa village of Banjar valley of Kullu,
was on Sunday remanded in police custody for five days. The ISIS
sympathizer was produced before district and session judge in Kullu a
day after his arrest on Saturday, with the police demanding his remand
for interrogation.

Abid Khan, 25, son of Yusuf Khan, a resident of Rashidiya Masjid in
Bangalore, was living in the church for nearly six months under a
pseudonym. Meanwhile, he visited Sri Lanka and even stayed at Mohal near
Kullu for a few days. His two friends were arrested by NIA in January
and ever since he was in hiding to avoid arrest.

While living in Kullu locality, Abid claimed to be a Christian and was
known by the name Paul. In his passport seized by the police, along
with his laptop and mobile phone, his name is Abid Khan.

police official said that they have obtained the suspect's remand for
further investigation in the case. It was disclosed that Abid supports
ISIS and was planning to move out of India. He planned to move to
Indonesia, where his girlfriend lives, and from there to Syria. Police
disclosed that Abid has command on several languages and now he was
learning Hebrew.

He was moved from Banjar police station to Kullu under tight security.
Himachal police has increased surveillance in the state while police
are trying to link the evidences to ascertain if Abid was involved in
any terrorist activity in past.

Meanwhile, the residents of Banjar and nearby villages plan to
assemble at Sidhwa church on Monday to protest against shelter being
provided to a person suspected of being involved in terrorist
activities.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), too, has slammed the Himachal
government's secret intelligence services failing to control the rising
criminal activities in the state. VHP's campaign chief in Himachal Rahul Solanki
said VHP has been asking state government for a long time to frame a
policy for registration of outsiders coming to Himachal to control the
crime. "Government has failed on this front. Most of the crimes
happening in state are committed by outsiders. It is strange that a
suspected ISIS agent has been living in Kullu for months without raising
a suspicion," he said.

NIA to interrogate ISIS suspect held from Kullu

Even as Kullu police is interrogating ISIS suspect Abid Khan alias Abu
Mohammad, National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is likely to visit
the state to interrogate the suspect.“He is cooperating but how far he is speaking the truth is a matter
of further investigation,” a senior cop told HT, requesting anonymity. Police
also interrogated the local chapel priest Kamlesh. Sources said Khan,
who was living here as Paul C Neo, was sent here by a priest in
Bangalore. “Both the suspect and Kamlesh have been cooperating. NIA has
complete information about the arrest and soon a team will visit here,”
he added.

On Saturday evening, Kullu police on a tip-off from
central agencies had arrested Abid Khan from Sidhwan. He is suspected to
have been planning to escape to Indonesia to his female friend. Khan had been converted into Christianity in Bangalore and living
here with a name- Paul C Neo. However, his identity proofs bore his
original name. Already fluent in five to six languages, Khan was
learning Hebrew language in Kullu, which is mostly in practice in
Israel.
A case was registered under Section 419 (punishment for
cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 18
(punishment for conspiracy), 19 (punishment for harbouring) of unlawful
activities prevention Act, 1967.
During the search, all identity
proofs recovered from him were on his original name. Police sources said
NIA had arrested few people in Bangalore in January this year and Abid
was under scanner since then.

Confessions of Bengaluru's love-struck ISIS recruit

The developments leading up to last
week's arrest of alleged Islamic State recruit Abid Khan read like a
Bollywood movie script. The terror suspect falls in bad company, the
cops come calling, but he has a narrow escape from arrest, goes
underground, converts to Christianity to remain hidden, believes he is
in love with an Indonesian woman he calls his girlfriend, and finally
gets caught. Sources said the 23-year-old Bengaluru native was living in
a church in Banjar town of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district for the
past six months before he was arrested in a joint operation of the NIA
and local police.
Sources said the 23-year-old Bengaluru native
was living in a church in Banjar town of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu
district for the past six months before he was arrested in a joint
operation of the NIA and local police.

Khan was allegedly planning to reach
Syria via Indonesia and had recently visited Sri Lanka. He also told
investigators that he referred to a woman, an Indonesian national, as
his girlfriend, because of whom he wanted to visit that country. But
investigators are yet to verify this. A mobile phone and a laptop
recovered from him could lead to crucial clues into Abid's life while he
was at large.
How Khan, a Bengaluru man, reached Kullu is another
story in itself. While the NIA launched a nationwide swoop on ISIS
terror suspects in January, arresting two dozen people, Khan remained
out of reach. His three associates from Bengaluru - Asif Ali, Mohammed
Afzal and Syed Mujahid - were arrested.

India has the world's
thirdlargest Muslim population at nearly 170 million but only a handful
of them have joined the West Asian group.Abid has told NIA sleuths and
Kullu police that he converted to Christianity in a Methodist church in
Bengaluru to stay out of the radar of the agencies. The NIA will
corroborate this aspect since it is yet to formally take over the case.

After conversion, he went to Sri Lanka
allegedly on a fake passport with his phoney identity of "Paul". Sources
told Mail Today that Khan went to Sri Lanka in March-April this year
for a month, and has alleged to have gone on missionary work.
The accused will remain in police custody till December 26. The NIA only plans to seek his custody in a fortnight.